Every Woman's Bible Genesis sampler - Flipbook - Page 33
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against King Kedorlaomer of elam, King Tidal of
Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of ellasar—four kings against five. 10As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with
tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and
Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the
rest escaped into the mountains. 11 The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and
headed for home, taking with them all the spoils
of war and the food supplies. 12 They also captured
Lot—Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and
carried off everything he owned.
13 But one of Lot’s men escaped and reported everything to Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the
oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre
and his relatives, eshcol and Aner, were Abram’s
allies.
14 When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been
captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had
been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan.
15 There he divided his men and attacked during the
night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased
them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16Abram
recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he
brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions
and all the women and other captives.
Melchizedek Blesses Abram
17After Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went
out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the
King’s Valley).
18And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest
of God Most High,* brought Abram some bread and
wine. 19Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
20
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High,
who has defeated your enemies for you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the
goods he had recovered.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give back my
14:18 Hebrew El-Elyon; also in 14:19, 20, 22.
14:11-16 Lot’s unfortunate choice to live near Sodom resulted
in trouble for himself and for Abram. Lot had chosen land that
looked fruitful, but the violent and corrupt residents would
ruin him (19:1-38).
14:18-20 The story of Melchizedek portrays the initial fulfillment of 12:1-3, where God declared that nations who blessed
Abram would be blessed. Abram shared with Melchizedek the
spoils of his victory. Melchizedek was a non-Israelite priest
who feared God, pointing to the future expansion of the Kingdom of God among non-Israelites. The author of Hebrews saw
justification for Christ’s priesthood here. Like Melchizedek,
Jesus was not from Israel’s priestly line (see Hebrews 7).
GeNeSIS 14
Perspective
God’s ideal or our real?
SCRIPTURE CONNECTION: GENESIS 14:11-16
Is ancient Hebrew culture an ideal to emulate?
Or is it incidental to the message?
In some cases, God gives instructions about
how to live based on universal truths. For
example, every human being is made in the
image of God, so every human life is precious
and worth protecting (9:6). But other times the
Bible describes practices that do not easily
transfer to our context today.
Abraham and Sarah lived as semi-nomadic
tent dwellers who kept herds of animals. And in
that day, the men would often fight battles and
take women as plunder. But God is not asking us
to move into tents, keep sheep, and carry swords.
Does that mean these stories have nothing to
teach us?
Ancient Hebrew culture does not provide a
template for us to replicate. We are not called
to re-create culture-specific elements in our
own lives, and many times the characters are
not models for emulation. But we can still learn
a great deal about God through these stories,
including the ways he shows himself to be faithful, even to flawed people—just like us.
VIEWPOINTS
HERS: Sarah might shudder to think women
would read her stories and think of her as a role
model. She had her fair share of failures and likely
felt she was often just muddling through.
MINE: “Seeing how God communicated to
ancient cultures inspires me. God works in and
through flawed people in less-than-ideal societies.
That means he can work through me, too, even
though I have a long way to go!”
YOURS: Can you think of aspects of our culture
that are less than ideal? And can you see ways
that God works in and through us anyway?
CARMEN JOY IMES, PhD, is an author, speaker,
blogger, YouTuber, and serves as associate
professor of Old Testament at Biola University
in California.
